at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance November 26, 27, 28
Global
Rhythms is the first concert series in the United States dedicated to
American tap and contemporary percussive arts companies. CHRP shares 50% of the
proceeds with more than 50 Chicago area non-profits through the
innovative Thanks4Giving
program.
Celebrate the culmination of Chicago Human Rhythm Project's 20th Anniversary Season with Global Rhythms 6, four unique concerts featuring earth-shaking percussive arts ensembles from around Chicago, the nation and the world! The Harris Theater will rock with:
CHRP's very own performing ensemble, BAM!, featuring Interchange, a series of premieres sponsored by the Sara Lee Foundation
Two encore performances by the pulsating Step Afrika!
The Stripes is a rhythm performance group consisting of top Japanese tap dancer, Hideboh, and 3 other members. They are widely known for their choreography and tap performance in Takeshi Kitano’s award-winning movie “Zatoichi” in 2003. The group is popular among Japanese audiences with their original dance style “Funk-a-Step” which comes from a combination of tap, club music, and unique percussion with household items such as buckets and frying pans. With their stunning stage performance, The Stripes has kept attracting vast audiences from young to old over the years.
Vata Tap (Fortaleza, Brazil)
Founded in 1994 by Brazilian actress, choreographer and tap dancer Valeria Pinheiro, Vatá Tap brings to the stage an artistic sense as tied to hybridity as Brazil is itself. Pinheiro says of her company, “we are brincantes!” (This means to be an actor, a singer, a musician, a dancer, a complete artist.) Taking that idea as her foundation, Pinheiro has created a style that brings together American Tap dance with the dance rhythms, theater, circus arts and popular traditional music of Northeastern Brazil. A magical blend of popular culture, spirituality and intellectual inquiry Vatá Tap explores the notion of the hybrid body in an awe striking display of light, sound and movement.
2006
Shekatek (Tel Aviv, Israel)
Sheketek, founded in 1997 by Danny Rachom and Zahi Patish, is based in rhythm, consisting of 5 members combining dance, live music, humor and each one’s special skills and talent. The group has traveled and performed in over 15 countries all over Europe, The U.S and the Far East and was invited back to perform in several places year after year. In 2003 Danny and Zahi created “Sheketak - Rhythm in Motion” a big production with 12 performers on satge in a show that combines movement, live music and video work all based on rhythm and street energy.
Tapeplas (Barcelona, Spain)
Tap dance, music and rhythm in an innovative theatrical concept. The company’s style fuses movement and sound in a visual, dynamic and fresh language. The “groove”, as a pivotal means of expression, is inspired by influences as versatile as Mediterranean, European and Middle-eastern. The group’s debut at Tap City 2003 in New York encouraged its growth and in a short time Tapeplas got officially established in its own studios in Barcelona. Between 2003 and 2005, the group presented parts of its repertory in different festivals, acts and events, but only at the end of did Tapeplas premiered its full length show: BoomBach.
India Jazz Suites ( India and United States)
India Jazz Suites, featuring Pandit Chitresh Das and Jason Samuels Smith, is an explosive collaboration between one of India’s foremost Kathak masters and one of the world’s fastest, Emmy-award winning tap dancers. The result is high entertainment which crosses all boundaries of age, race and culture — a blast of incredible speed and power, grace and beauty, epic storytelling and the pure joy of dance. After premiering in San Francisco in 2005, India Jazz Suites has received extensive critical acclaim and has toured around the U.S. and India. It was chosen as the #1 Dance Performance of 2005 by the San Francisco Chronicle and won the prestigious Isadora Duncan Dance Award (Izzie) for Best Ensemble Performance of the year.
Charlie's Angels(Los Angeles, USA)
“Charlie’s Angels” A Rhythmic Tribute to Charlie Parker” is a collaborative concept created by Jason Samuels Smith of three of the leading ladies in the tap world today: Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Chloe Arnold, and Ayodele Casel. The choreography and improvisational elements of the program are performed in honor of Charles “Yardbird” Parker’s own improvisational brilliance featuring his original tunes. Charlie Parker was an amazing saxophonist who gained wide recognition for his brilliant solos and who worked frequently with tap dancers throughout his career.
2007
TAO (Kyushu, Japan)
“Bringing wadaiko (Japanese drum) into an internationally accepted entertainment” – such was the grand dream of TAO at the time of its inception in Aichi prefecture back in 1993. TAO established their base in Kuju Town, Oita, Kyushu, which is surrounded by the grandeur of nature and officially opened their doors to the world in 2004 when they performed at the month-long Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Their dynamic stage presence has won the hearts of many during their world tours and their overpowering performances continue to fascinate audiences worldwide.
2008
Barbatuques (Sao Paolo, Brazil)
Barbatuques was founded in 1996 as an artistic and pedagogic lab to research body percussion in musical expression. It comprises 13 company members who use a combination of claps, chest slaps, tap dance sequences, mouth vacuums, vocal resrouces and more to create unique rhythms and melodies. The result is a “circle orchestra” in which all musicians play and improvise on the same instrument. Barbatuques tours widely in Brazil and abroad with performances and educational workshops. Its 2002 debut album Corpo do Som and subsequent 2008 album O Seguinte E Esse were released by the label MCD.
2009
Step Afrika (Washington D.C., U.S.A.)
Step Afrika is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Founded in December 1994, the company is critically-acclaimed for its efforts to promote an understanding of and appreciation for stepping and the dance tradition's use as an educational tool for young people worldwide. Step Afrika reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year and has performed on many stages in North & South America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.
